Toxic sands to be covered

Parks Victoria will cover up potentially dangerous sands around Eaglehawk before this summer.

The Black Saturday bushfire left the calcine sands exposed after burning plants and shrubs.

The sands are a by-product of old mining techniques and contain harmful chemicals, including arsenic and mercury.

Hamish MacLennan, from Parks Victoria, says people should not be alarmed and the sands will be covered up soon.

"We have received advice from the mining company who are assessing the sands for further gold extraction and they've advised us that the level of gold remaining in the sands is not sufficient to warrant the cost of picking up the sand and transporting them to a site to be treated," he said.

Free trade is the oldest argument in federal politics and the issue that literally defined the federation era but opposition exists to the TPP, courtesy of the Investor-State Dispute Resolutions clause.